Doncaster meeting abandoned due to snow on Town Moor course

Doncaster’s National Hunt meeting on Friday has been abandoned due to snow as the cold snap continues to play havoc with scheduled racing this week.

The course has been covered since Friday, but four inches of snow fell on top of those covers on Tuesday night.

Friday’s card was due to be the first of two days of action on Town Moor and there will be an inspection at noon on Thursday to assess the chances for Saturday’s card, which is due to feature the William Hill Grimthorpe Chase.

Clerk of the course Roderick Duncan said: “Friday’s meeting had no chance with all the snow, but we’re inspecting at noon tomorrow for Saturday.

“There is a chance of a minor improvement, so we’ll see how that forecast develops.

“They are talking about the possibility of rain and warmer weather on Sunday, so if that happens to come forward 24 hours or so, there might be a chance. We just think we need to give Saturday another 24 hours.”

Friday’s meeting at Chelmsford will have to pass a 1pm inspection on Thursday.

Four inches of snow has fallen at the Essex track overnight with further snow expected ahead of racing.

Clerk of the course Andy Waitt will assess the situation on Thursday as staff at the venue try to clear as much snow as possible.

He said: “We have about four inches of snow overnight and we have more forecast today, as well as tomorrow and Friday.

“We will just take a look tomorrow afternoon to check we are where we need to be in terms of clearing the snow.

“It is more of a health and safety issue than a problem with the track. We also need to check the surrounding roads are safe for people to get to the racecourse.”

Newcastle’s meeting this evening has been abandoned and there will be an inspection ahead of racing on Thursday.

After four centimetres of snow fell overnight, officials called an inspection for 10am, but that proved inconclusive and another check was made at 11am.

That look resulted in the decision to cancel the card.

The track tweeted: “Due to heavy snow fall and further snow forecast, today’s fixture has been abandoned. There will be a precautionary inspection tomorrow at 8am ahead of tomorrow’s afternoon fixture.”